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Colombia
Colombia Earthquake
Colombia is located in the northwestern corner of the South American
plate, where it meets the Nazca and Caribbean plates. This collision of
tectonic plates has produced a subduction zone beneath the Pacific coast
and shallow crustal faults within the interior of Colombia. Although the
subduction earthquakes are potentially very damaging, they occur in an
area of the Pacific coast that is sparsely populated.
The shallow crustal faults however, can produce significant damage
because of their proximity to major population centers. For example, a
relatively small magnitude shallow crustal event occurred on March 1983
near the city of Popanyan measuring only M5.4, yet causing US$400
million of damage. One particularly hazardous shallow crustal fault zone
called the Frontal Fault system runs along the eastern boundary of the
Cordillera Oriental mountain range. Segments of this fault have the
potential to produce M8.0 events that could result in extensive damage
to many cities including Bogota.
The largest historical event associated with the Cordillera Oriental is
the 1917 Earthquake measuring M7.3, the greatest in a series of
earthquakes that struck the central part of Colombia during a 10-day
period. Almost every building in Bogota experienced some damage.
Bogota’s population has increased considerably since the 1917
Earthquake, expanding the city onto nearby soft lakebeds. If a similar
event were to occur today, damage would be much more extensive.
The RMS® Colombia Earthquake model was originally released in 1996 to
support a market-wide analysis of earthquake risk for the Colombian
insurance industry association, FASECOLDA. It has since been utilized by
the local insurance industry, multi-national insurers, and reinsurers
writing business in Colombia to evaluate and transfer earthquake risk.
Model Highlights
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Building vulnerability curves developed from work
of local experts and RMS research |
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Accounts for local/regional construction
differences and building code changes |
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Seismic hazard model follows state-of-the-art
research by the Colombian Association of Seismic Engineers,
committee on Seismic Hazards |
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Historic seismicity not attributed to crustal
faults or to subduction zones is modeled as background seismicity |
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High resolution site information utilized for
Bogota, Medellin, and Cali |
Geographic Scope
All of Colombia, except Islands in the region of Isla
de San Andres
Exposure Data Resolution
Data input supported at the following levels of
resolution: latitude-longitude, barrio (Bogota only), municipio (city
equivalent), departamento (county equivalent), and CRESTA zone
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